1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable conditioned storage unit useful for cooling, heating, or freezing, and more particularly to a versatile cold storage unit designed for use by hunters, fishermen, and other for storing fresh items such as meat, dairy products, vegetables, fish, or flowers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many have a need for storing fresh items in quantities of up to 500 pounds. For instance, hunters may dress deer and need a place to store several hundred pounds of dressed meat while continuing to hunt, otherwise the meat may spoil unless transported immediately. Likewise, some farmers have a need for storing fresh vegetables, meat, or dairy products to prepare for transport to market without expending money on a refrigerated truck. Fishermen may like to cold store fish from a day""s catch to preserve the fish until transported or cleaned and packaged. And, businesses, such as florists for flowers, have a need for a cost-effective means for storing their fresh products in a portable cold environment.
In the past, large, one-piece refrigerated containers, such as ones sitting on a flatbed trailer, were designed for outdoor events. These type containers would be hauled to a location and unloaded from the trailer using heavy equipment. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,838 to Cavalea, an improvement on these type containers involved providing a portable refrigeration unit that could be assembled at a remote location without the need for heavy equipment. However, these prior containers were large in size and lacked the versatility required by those such as hunters or fishermen. A need continues to exist for a cold storage unit that can be transported closer to where goods such as fresh meat or the like are to be supplied so that the goods can be immediately stored without losing any of their quality that can be preserved by regulating their temperature.
Standard size and type refrigerators or coolers have been used in the past to solve these needs. However, typical refrigerated containers are too small, cannot be temperature regulated, and cannot freeze quickly or at all. Further, standard freezers are not economical for hunters or like because of size and weight and difficulty in transporting and unloading.
It is an object of this invention to provide a portable cold storage unit with open cooling and heating system that is temperature regulated to very low temperatures such that the unit may freeze very quickly, and provide ample cold or hot storage space for up to 500 pounds of material such as dressed meat.
In accordance with the invention, the cold storage unit is portable and designed to mount to a platform for loading onto a vehicle or transport by a vehicle. The platform may be provided trailer equipment to be hauled by a vehicle such as an ATV (all terrain vehicle) or loaded onto the bed of a truck or trailer. The invention""s cold storage unit includes a modular cooling unit that is separable from the platform and a storage box. By removing the modular cooling unit, it may be exchanged for a different capacity unit. Further, the fluid flow of the cooling unit is reversible such that the cooling unit may also act as a heat pump for heating the storage box. Thus, the cold storage unit may also be used to store cooked meats and the like.
A storage box is connected to a reversible cooling unit and attached to the platform. The box is constructed of wood and supported by aluminum metal struts. The construction of the box provides a light weight storage solution with excellent insulating properties that is also durable for outdoor use and transport.
The platform arrangement of the storage box and modular cooling unit is especially versatile and additional functional features may be added. In particular, the inventor contemplates that optional components including a hot or cold water supply tank, a sink or wash basin, a pair of gas or electric heating elements, a storage compartment for cooking implements, and an ice maker may be added onto the platform along with the storage box and modular cooling unit.